More people discovering the joys of keeping hens

May 29 2009 by Karen Dent, The Journal

“If they’re new to it, they can ask advice. They start off getting birds for the eggs and just see some advice and they decide to show. We get a lot who are new to showing at the county show.”

He has been keeping and showing poultry for around a decade. “My daughter got me into it. She started here about 12 years go, she came here and won the best juvenile prize,” he added.

“You get a good day out, you make loads and loads of friends and it gets you out and about. In the winter, there are national shows at Stoneleigh and the Federation at Stafford. It is a passion.”

Fellow steward Dave Jarman has been showing poultry for around 20 years

He said: “Everyone has their own way of preparing them – they wash them, blow dry with a hair dryers, clean their feet and their scales with a toothbrush. Everybody’s got their own concoction to make their combs and wattles come up shining. It’s a hobby, I’m an enthusiast.”

The increasing emphasis on welfare, via TV chefs such as Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall has also helped to raise the profile of poultry.

Mr Straughan said: “He’s brought it to the public attention.

“People are bothered about how birds are kept and their welfare. People think eggs come from caged birds, then they get free range and then they take it a step further and get their own hens.”